Last weekend, I spent two days on foot with my boss, chasing rainbows up and down the local streams despite the rain. Oddly enough, I couldn’t get fish interested in my nymph program, but large October Caddis patterns fished well all day. Special shout out to Brewers Union Public House and Brewery — you have to stop there if you fish near Oakridge. Over the course of two days we fished in a loop hitting spots between Eugene and above Hills Creek reservoir on the Willamette, then up the North Fork Willamette, down the South Fork McKenzie, and down the mainstem and 126 back home. We found fish everywhere we expected, but the big October Caddis hatch was elusive.
-MS
Great report! How big are the “big” October caddis you were hoping for?
Stop at a brewery? OK!
Nice shots of the fog on the river. It was really thick on the upper McKenzie on Saturday. Makes everything a so surreal.
Might be heading near there tomorrow. That third pic down is absolutely beautiful, by the way.
Hey Owl,
The October Caddis are about a size 8. Fish will move for a morsel that big.
Owl, the ones I’ve seen are BIG. This past weekend produced quite a few large native bows on the upper/middle Mac on an October caddis adult tied on a #8 200R. The big natives seem to be looking up for those big bugs. They’ve not been too shy. Sunday, I caught one on the adult/dry and it had a pupa in its mouth. Get out and fish if you can.